The Penny is Retiring

On February 4, 2013, the Royal Canadian Mint will no longer distribute pennies. Going forward, financial institutions will no longer be receiving pennies, and may not distribute pennies. As well, businesses and banks are encouraged to round cash transactions. We will be following the federal government's guidelines for rounding.

How does "rounding" work?

Only some transactions will be impacted. It depends on what kind of transaction is involved.

Cash transactions

Transactions involving cash require rounding to the nearest five-cent increment as follows:

	$1.01 or $1.02 becomes $1.00		$1.03 or $1.04 becomes $1.05
	$1.06 or $1.07 becomes $1.05		$1.08 or $1.09 becomes $1.10

Cashing a government cheque?

When you cash a government cheque, it will always be rounded up to the nearest five cents.

Example: a government cheque for $120.22
Cashed		$120.25

What about other transactions?

If you use online banking, an ABM, or any type of electronic banking to make a transaction, the exact amount will be recorded. Only cash transactions need to be rounded.

For more information about the penny's retirement, depositing pennies, using pennies, and more, visit the the Government of Canada.